Today’s courtroom antics by Cosby’s lawyers - the allegedly accidental mentioning of accusers’ names, the “memory expert,” the thick binders - are all part of an increasingly desperate and disgusting defense strategy designed to deter and discourage others with information from stepping forward.

Efforts to “out” crime victims are vile. Period. Victims and alleged victims of sexual violence should decide whether and when their names are used publicly. Period. More criminals will be caught when more victims’ privacy is assured. Period. If a victim or alleged victim of rape wants to use her name in some contexts but not others, that’s fine. Period.

No matter what officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in churches, schools or other institutions to protect the vulnerable by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how we will all be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)